’G no joy for the skipper’s lean trot
A RETURN to his beloved MCG was not enough for Aaron Finch to turn around his dreadful summer as India again exploited Australia’s struggling ODI openers.
Finch fell cheaply to swing king Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a third straight time yesterday.
Australia’s ODI skipper had hoped to maintain his impressive record at the MCG, where he had scored three centuries and averaged almost 50.
But the Victorian was unable to find form on home soil, trapped lbw by a Bhuvneshwar inswinger on 14 to the delight of a crowd dominated by India fans.
It capped a rotten summer for Finch, whose batting form slump extended across all three formats and led to his Test axing.
The 32-year-old managed 242 runs at 15.12 from 16 international innings.
“At the moment he’s really searching for form and his footwork’s all over the place,” former Test batsman Mark Waugh said.
“He’s trying to get forward but his balance doesn’t even look right when he’s trying to do that.”
Bhuvneshwar’s previous delivery — unusually sent down from behind where the umpire was standing — was called a dead ball after Finch pulled away at the last minute.
But despite his poor form with the bat, his captaincy has been impressive, with former spin king Shane Warne leading the praise.